From Reuters:
On Monday, hundreds of angry investors in a get-rich-quick scheme fought with police outside a government office in Beijing after demanding help from the government. Nearly 30,000 investors lost a total of 1.3 billion yuan in the scheme, which involved planting trees in the arid region of Inner Mongolia.
“(The company) planted trees in the desert in Inner Mongolia, then sold them to us. It was supposed to green the desert,” said a Beijing resident surnamed Li, who lost about 100,000 yuan in the scheme. “The company planted about 720,000 mu (48,000 hectares), but about 40 percent died,” Li added.
The government sued the directors of the company for false advertising and seized the company’s plantations. Additionally, several protesters were detained for putting up banners outside the government office. In July, police warned Chinese citizens to avoid Olympic scams.
Protesters sit behind a police line outside a government office in central Beijing October 20, 2008.
